Report: Ford pulls bailout ad after criticism from press, questions from White House

Still shot of "Chris" from a recent Ford "Drive One" ad pulled by the automaker.

Ford Motor Company has shelved a television commercial indirectly criticizing its competitors for accepting government bailouts to avoid bankruptcy in the wake of media criticism and, reportedly, a call from the White House.

The ad, first uploaded to YouTube months ago, was part of a series featuring real-life customers who were thrust into press conferences where actor/reporters asked them to explain their decisions to buy a Ford.

"I wasn't going to buy another car that was bailed out by our government," the customer, Chris, said in the ad. "I was going to buy from a manufacturer that's standing on their own: win, lose, or draw. That's what America is about is taking the chance to succeed and understanding when you fail that you gotta' pick yourself up and go back to work. Ford is that company for me."

The ad came under fire earlier this month when various media outlets began to point out Ford's apparent hypocricy, noting that while the automaker did not receive a government bailout, CEO Alan Mulally urged Congress to aid the industry and accepted various federal loans.

The Dearborn-based automaker is not commenting on the decision to pull the ad, but Daniel Howes of The Detroit News reports that "individuals within the White House" called Ford and questioned whether the spot criticized the policy Mulally had repeatedly supported.

An industry source said the White House did not pressure Ford to remove the ad, but Howes suggested it was pulled in response to the call, an assertion the White House again denied this afternoon.

Regardless of the motivation, Ford's decision points to the increasingly congested intersection of automobiles and politics. The industry undoubtedly benefited from government intervention, and Ford undoubtedly benefited from its ability to avoid a bailout.

It doesn't need to point that out though. The buying public does it for them.

In this case, it was Chris, who explained how he came to star in the commercial and reiterated his support for Ford during an interview this morning on WJR-AM 760.

"I still standby what I said, and that is, as Americans, we need to decide if we're going to be run by a government or if we're going to be run by free enterprise," he told host Frank Beckmann. "That's really the debate that we're facing today. So I applaud Ford, still, to this day, for having the courage to put that ad on the TV and spur the debate.

"I was interviewed for about two, two-and-a-half hours, and that was the 30 seconds Ford chose to put on there, and I'm grateful for their courage. We do operate in a world that has many moving parts, so I understand the decision, although I am a little disappointed."

Update: White House Communications Director Dan Pfieffer sent out a tweet this afternoon saying The Detroit News column suggesting the administration pressured Ford is false.